


Second Chances

by avengers_fics



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2018-11-04 01:29:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10980510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avengers_fics/pseuds/avengers_fics
Summary: Your life in DC quickly went to shit, so you took all of your money from your old husband and ran to live far far away from it all. One night, you hear a knock at the door and a certain soldier from your past needs a second chance at life.





	1. Knock at the door

Everyone in their lifetime manages to get into some sort of trouble, and most of the time it’s something that could be swept under the rug. You’d had run ins with miniscule trouble, however this time it was different; you knew there was no second chances being given out. Fleeing the state was the only option left for you, and you barely had time to grab your dog and some clothes, plus the wad of cash that had been tucked away in a safe in case this situation ever occurred. After a month or so on the road, you’d finally found a little piece of heaven to call your own. There’d been a worn down farmhouse for sale that needed some work, just outside of Portland, Maine. There was a dense forest surrounding the edges of the cornfields that marked the end of your property. A sweet little town was just a mile down the road, where you were able to get all the groceries and supplies you’d needed.

Finally having your own spot to call home once again was enough to bring you immense joy, that and being away from everything you’d endured in your past. The only exception to your solitude was your puppy, who you’d picked out from the pound before you left the town you had lived in all those years.

The daily routine was something of a dream for you, now that you were only selling goods from your garden, and eggs at the farmers market on Saturdays. Since it was Friday evening, you were making your rounds about the farm to prep for the next morning. Picking some of the tomatoes that had just finished growing, and the basil looked fresher than ever. The chickens finally cooperated and laid eggs, just in time for the upcoming market. You were more than happy with your bounty as you headed into the sun porch where your labrador was waiting patiently for you. After a ruffle to his ears, you walked into the kitchen and locked the door leading to the porch in preparation for bedtime. It was leftovers day so you found yourself on the couch, watching Parks and Rec, and eating some day-old chicken.

Your bed was practically calling your name after the long day you had volunteering to work at the local fair that was going on. It was just selling tickets and earning a small amount of cash, but you certainly had a good time seeing your new friends come out with their loved ones, and kids. Money wasn't an issue since you had sold your old house, and it was a big one. So instead of worrying about money and mortgage payments, you paid for your house in cash the day you bought it and concentrated on making money for the fixes. Plus, you got some free stuff from the man who worked in the mom-and-pop tool shop down the road. He quickly came to see you as a daughter to him, and he slipped you some free paint and wrenches.

Everything was going just as planned for your Friday night, until you heard a knock at your door at 9 pm.

You shot a quick glance at your phone, and there were no messages indicating that any of the few friends you had were coming over. Sure, it was Friday and everyone could be out and about. But you still lived in the middle of the woods, with a giant field surrounding your house. But you figured if anything it was Gregory who ran the tool shop, and since he didn’t know how to work a cell phone it could’ve very easily been him outside. But as you approached the front door, you noticed that the porch lights weren’t even on, and that’s when you knew something was off. Either you had a ghost on your porch, or someone snuck up sound enough to not set off any motion detector.

But then, a husky voice cut through the deafening silence ringing in your ears, “Please… Help me.”

You made the brass decision to swing the door open, and your jaw went slack as you recognized a bruised, and bloody Bucky Barnes leaning on your door frame.


	2. talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after letting him in, he is surprised with your generosity. you get to talk to him for a bit and find out what he’s had to endure since escaping hydra’s hold.

The Winter Soldier’s familiar face stopped you in your tracks, and it felt like puzzle pieces were connecting in your mind. You’d seen his face in the folders that your husband had in the locked office of your old house. Flashbacks began to run rampant in your head of the day that everything went to shit; all the files released containing information about what your husband really did at his work. Long story short, you took all the money and ran when your husband went missing in the dead of night. The fact that this town was so secluded was another attribute that drew you there, there seemed to be a bubble protecting everyone from the Avengers and Hydra. Sure, there was the occasional Captain America costume on your first halloween there, but other than that there was no mention of the world’s mightiest heroes or the organization that they’d worked for collapsing. 

So, it didn’t add up as to why Bucky was at your house. Pain was evident on his face, but you were still wary of a second agenda on his part. There was blood spattered on his face and from what you could tell, it wasn’t his. Something inside of you was saying to be careful, and at the same time there was also a little voice telling you to let him in. You’d been in his shoes before when people shut the door in your face so many times there was almost no hope left. With what you knew about him, you cautiously held your hand out as a signal for him to limp in with the aid of your arm. The only lights on were a candle lit on the hutch in the living room, and the netflix screen paused on Parks and Rec. You finally got the courage and asked while you shuffled with Bucky through the house, “Do you know your name?”

You brought Bucky to the kitchen, and sat him down at the dining table on one of the sturdier chairs. After flicking on the light switch, you saw Bucky weakly hold his head up, and gaze over at you, “Why aren’t you scared of me?” He was thoroughly confused as to why you let him in, and it sounded like he was out of breath from the short walk from your front door to the kitchen. There were a few older washcloths that you were willing to get rid of, so you threw them under some cold water before handing them to Bucky to clean up with.

Ignoring his question, you sat down on the chair next to his and watched as he poked his abdomen, checking for any open wounds. “Maybe take your shirt off?” Directly after the words left your mouth, you already regretted saying it out loud, “Y’know, so you can see what’s wrong.” You tried to cover your ass but Bucky was already loudly laughing, followed by a groan from forgetting momentarily about whatever he’d done to himself. Once he was able to get his t-shirt over his shoulders, you saw that he only had minor scrapes and bruises. After a few more quiet moments passed you asked, “How did you find this place?”

Bucky was finally able to sit up straight, and he found himself taken by your facial features as you watched him think. But he knew that he had to explain how he really got there if you were going to really help him, “I’ve been all over the world, and when I came into this town… I didn’t feel out of place.” There was a hint of sadness in his eyes, and you knew there had to be a lot going on in his mind. “Plus, I figured there had to be a house back here from the dirt road.” A soft smile briefly lit up his features before he joked about how his tired body would only allow him to travel a little farther.

Ruckus, your chocolate lab, came bounding down the stairs after he had just woken up from his winter’s nap. (During the summer) For a moment you became nervous about how he would be with Bucky there; you knew that dogs were good judges of character. Considering your dog went right into his tail wagging mode, you felt slightly better about the Winter Soldier being in your house. The table creaked as Bucky leaned his head on the palms of his hands when he was done petting your dog, and he sighed, “I can’t believe you let me in, I’ve had the door shut in my face so many times just from people not wanting to help a stranger, let alone the times people actually recognized me.” He ran his hands through his long black hair, and looked over at you.

The previous year of your life had also been filled with running, and nobody helping you in the process. With a sad smile, you placed your hand on top of his, “If it weren’t for second chances, we’d all be alone.” It was horrible what he’d been through, and you had a gut feeling that you were the person that was destined to give Bucky a second chance. After another few moments of silence, you asked, “Are you hungry?” He didn’t answer right away, but his stomach growled in response to him even thinking about food. So you made a quick call to the pizza place in town, and made sure you ordered a lot since you knew how super soldiers eat from what you read in his file.

Once you hung up the phone, you knew it was going to be not long before you needed to head out and pick up the food. But before you left, you showed Bucky a little bit of the house and to the shower upstairs. Luckily, you still had some of your former husband’s clothes in the spare room that was adjacent to yours, and you showed Bucky to the room so he could find some clean clothes to wear for the night. He looked around a little confused at all the boxes, but he was more focused on getting out of the greasy clothes he’d been wearing for days. So he closed the door, and got cleaned up while you went into town.


	3. familiar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> bucky gets to know your house a little more, and your routine. he's really a sweetheart

Although he had been pretty beaten up when he first arrived at your farmhouse, Bucky had less of a limp in his step when he found himself walking around your house while you were getting dinner. There was a faint smile on his face while he looked around at all the knick knacks in your house. Some stuff you had found during your road trip up to your new house, like a ceramic donut ornament you got from driving through Boston, then the lobster magnet from the little gas station you first saw when you arrived in Maine. Picture frames specifically for the different holidays were all lined up on the table in the hallway, and Bucky studied the picture of you drunkenly smiling on Saint Paddy’s day. The bar looked awfully familiar to him, almost like a memory was on the tip of his tongue. After a few moments he felt as if a headache was coming on, so he set the picture down and continued walking around. 

Ruckus was following Bucky’s every step through your house, wagging his tail every few minutes when Bucky would lean down and scratch the top of his head. When Bucky was finally done inspecting the first floor, he plopped down on the couch and watched TV until you got back. He only had to wait a few more minutes before he heard your car pull up, and he peeked out the window just to confirm that it was just you. With the pizza boxes in your arms, you kicked the back door of your car shut and walked up the porch steps. Bucky had swung the door open for you, and you scurried to the kitchen to set everything down. 

Bucky had really cleaned himself up in the short amount of time since you had left, and it brought a smile to your face to see him comfortable in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. The decal on the sweatshirt, however, was the college you and your husband had went to. He must’ve put on the cologne that was in the same box, and it threw you for a loop when the scent hit your nose. A wave of sadness came into your chest, but you pushed it down to take care of Bucky in the moment. 

“I hope you like pizza.” You popped open the box and got the styrofoam plates for the both of you to bring out to the living room. Watching Bucky eat was like feeding time at the zoo, although he managed to get all the food in his mouth and not make a mess. 

Once he tore through two whole pizzas by himself, you finally had to tell him through your laughter that he should take it easy. Bucky made a mental note about the way your face scrunched up before you began laughing, he had first noticed it before you left to get the pizza too. Before he could even try to think about why his mind had conjured up the thought, he saw you abruptly get up to start cleaning to prepare for bedtime. He helped and cleaned up his own plate and within a few minutes the both of you were yawning, standing at the bottom of the staircase. 

“You’re welcome to stay in the guest room next to mine,” You patted his shoulder, and began the walk up the stairs after you shut off all the downstairs lights. “I’m sure Ruckus will be checking on you in the middle of the night, too.” The stairs creaked under Bucky’s weight, and he found himself staring at the room from the threshold. You smiled from your own doorway and wished him a goodnight and with a grin of his own, he closed his door behind him.

-

The next morning’s sunrise was so beautiful you almost forgot to get all your veggies ready for the farmers market, luckily your alarm cut through your temporary daze. With some spare time left, you decided to get some cleaning done in your house as well. Your speaker was on full blast so you could dance around the kitchen until you had everything finished. It was a fun routine you worked up; put on loud music, arrange everything into baskets, play with the dog some, and then get going for the morning. Only when you heard the slight shuffling of someone coming down the stairs did you remember you had a house guest. 

With your hands still in the sink water from washing dishes, Bucky stood next to you with a questionable look on his face, “How are you so wide awake right now?” He leaned on the counter awaiting your answer. Bucky had changed his clothes, and was now wearing some basketball shorts that accentuated his muscular legs and thick thighs. Plus, the tight tank top he was wearing just put the final knife in the attractive coffin. 

With a little laugh to cover your staring, you explained, “I sell stuff at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings, gotta be ready to go by eight.” You shut off the sink to let it drain, and dried your hands off, “You interested in coming with me?” Despite knowing that it might’ve been too many people there, you still asked since you knew it was worth a try with him. 

Bucky was standing upright, and you could tell he was thinking about it from the way he scrunched his nose up in contemplation. You wondered when the last time he’d been in public and not actively running from someone was, but that was too much of a rhetorical question. Ruckus then came around the corner from the living room, and jumped on Bucky’s legs for attention. With that, he must’ve changed his mind, “Is it okay if I just stay here?” You were about to nod your head yes, but he quickly added, “I can, uh, clean or something.” Bucky seemed to be in a good mood, and your dog was only adding to it. It was nice having someone else around, you had forgotten what it was like to not be completely independent. 

So, you gave Bucky a list of small things to do around the house, like clean the kitchen counters, wash Ruckus’ bowls, and sweep the patio off. Bucky smiled when he looked over the list, and also saw “clean your room” scribbled, which meant he should just move the clothes from the boxes into the drawers in the spare room that he was staying in. After showing him how to work the TV, you were off to the Market for the afternoon, and left Bucky alone in your house.


	4. "I remember you"

When he finally finished the tasks you had written on the paper, he decided that he was going to investigate. Bucky knew you were no harm to him from the moment you opened the door, with messy hair and a certain gleam in your eye that was all love. But he still didn’t know anything about your past, and why you had all those clothes in your guest room. Obviously they were from a man who had been in your life quite recently, but how come he didn’t take all the clothes with him? Also, Bucky had a gut feeling that he knew who you were, and whoever you had been with. But the same, foggy feeling clouded his mind once more. Ruckus happily followed Bucky through the house while he looked for pictures, newspapers, anything to clue him in. So when he finally reached the end of the hall where your bedroom door was open, he stopped to think to himself. 

Bucky knew that it would be wrong to go through your room, it was personal space that he wasn’t invited into. But at the same time, he needed to fully investigate to figure out your past considering you fully knew his. All he could remember was pushing people around and killing, and now something as simple as walking into a room and looking at pictures was a great dilemma to him. Leaning against the door frame, he peered around your room and saw no further cause to disrupt the peace you had created for yourself. There were sweatpants on the floor, and a candle that was already half used on your nightstand. The window was open, letting a soft breeze blow the curtains around. 

For the first time in what felt like his entire life, he pushed down the animalistic instincts that came with being the Winter Soldier. With a turn of his heel, Bucky moved on towards his room, and awaited your return.

-

Black clouds were looming above your little town by the time the farm market was coming to a close, threatening to flood the whole damn place. You had a successful day, and whatever you didn’t sell was going towards dinner that night. After packing quickly with the storm approaching, you made it home fairly fast before the rain started crashing down on the old roof of your farm house. As you were closing the front door from your last trip of bringing stuff inside, the rain began to pour down which let a lovely scent enter your house through the open windows in the kitchen. Something about the rain was heartbreaking and joyful all at the same time, and you could tell Bucky was thinking about something with his hard gaze out the windows. 

After you cleaned up from being outside all day, you told Bucky to follow follow you to the sun porch that extended off of the kitchen. The two of you sat out on the porch for about a half hour before finally speaking to one another; you both enjoyed the loud silence. 

“Why do you have all of these clothes?” Bucky’s gravelly voice cut through the loud rain pouring onto the tin roof of the porch. His hard eyes were looking into your own, searching for an answer. 

The question caught you off guard, but you felt as if this part of your life was a closed chapter. So much that you were finally able to voice it out loud without crying. “My husband.” You whispered, and Bucky took a sharp inhale of air through his nostrils. “You don’t have to worry, he’s long gone.” The memories of your former husband rose to the surface, and you stared out at the sky that was thundering away. Your husband was a piece of work, and you didn’t really know where to start with how awful he was. 

When you first met your husband, he had just gotten his job at Shield while you were a new resident to the D.C. area. It was easy to fall in love with his wild and large personality, and being at bars with him consumed the beginning of your 20’s. Sure, he was quite the person to sing with at karaoke nights at the bars on fridays, but he wasn’t the man you were destined to give everything to - for the rest of your life. Every marriage has it’s own tumultuous days, but it felt like waking up with him every day was a struggle. It was no surprise to you that he was working for some underground organization, threatening to rise against whatever Shield had built. There had always been something evil lying low under his collected surface. When he finally let you in on what he’d been doing, it was already too late, and he explained that when he was gone he wanted you to get far far away from your current home. 

Sure enough, the following week your husband went missing in the middle of the night. No questions asked, no phone calls made, you grabbed the $100,000 that was in the safe and you left the following morning. While on the road, you found out that Natasha Romanoff had released all of Shield and Hydra’s files online, making what your husband did very public and an easy target. With a little amount of research done, that was how you landed in the small town of Allagash, with the beat up house and a dog. 

Bucky with his eyebrows furrowed at you, as if you missed a piece of the story.

“What?” You asked with genuine concern. 

His voice was rough, “I remember you.” Bucky found himself taking shaky breaths as he put together the pieces in his mind. “That bar, on Saint Patrick's day two years ago, I was there.” A tear dripped down his face as he began to explain what he could remember.


	5. another side of bucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> despite the weird previous night, you move on to the sunday farmers market. this time you make bucky come with you so he can meet someone the people in town, and the old ladies are curious about who this new handsome man is with you.

The conversations you and Bucky had that night played over and over in your head as you were trying to go to sleep. Thunder and lighting were still raging on as you tossed and turned, but no sleep found you. Bucky told you that he was hired to watch you that night at the bar, but he couldn’t remember by who. This was only a few months before your husband went “missing”, and you figured it was him who ordered the winter soldier to follow you around. You remember him mentioning something about a mission failing and targets escaping, but Bucky seemed to think it was something more than that. Along the lines of Pierce sending out other hitmen to get rid of anyone who knew anything about the organization, including families of the agents. 

Instead of moping around out of fatigue the next morning, you decided to try and sell whatever had ripened up in your garden overnight. There were a few tomatoes that looked perfect in the morning sun as you walked out and picked them off the vine and placed them into the basket. Cleaning hadn’t really gotten done the previous night, considering the two of you awkwardly walked to your rooms and didn’t speak a word to each other after him realizing he recognized you. You knew it was better to have the night to yourself, to think about this meant for you and him. What if that wasn’t the only night he had been ordered to follow you? 

When Bucky came down the wooden stairs, you continued to scrub away at whatever dishes were in reach until you finally forced yourself to speak. 

“Come to the farmer’s market with me today, meet some of the people in town.” You smiled, and faced him. Despite the ache in your heart over the fact that he had once violated your privacy and practically stalked you, you knew that he didn’t deserve to be kept up in the house all day. This was better than punishing him for something that, technically speaking, your husband did. Bucky knew he didn’t have an option in this, and simply laughed on his way back up the stairs to get dressed. 

Bucky found himself staring out of the window of your car as you made the short drive into town, the mountains in the distance almost made his mouth drop open out of shock. This place that he had found was just full of beauty, color, and life. People roamed the sidewalks stopping to talk to one another, and it was something that Bucky hadn’t seen in almost 70 years; peace. With the windows down, he could smell the fresh mountain air and hear the conversations as you passed by. 

For some reason, Bucky knew he found the right place to be.

-

Little old ladies that always stopped to chat with you found a new liking to the mysterious man that accompanied you this weekend. Most of them just went right into “Oh, this must be your husband!” which led to wide eyes from Bucky and your own cheeks to be flushed. You hadn’t really seen Bucky in that kind of a light, considering he was an assassin that your husband helped torture. Sure, he had a handsome face under all the beard and scruff, but you guys had pretty much just met. 

Bucky came up with a solution for all the questions and awkward silences by the fourth time someone asked, he just butted in, “Yeah, we got married last spring.” With a charming smile, and that was all it took for them to lay off. You knew that Bucky enjoyed the silence, but it was hilarious to hear him talk to people with such a facade. His charm began to shine through the cracks as you saw the way his face lit up when they asked about you, even though it was a fake scenario he gave every time, he recounted it as if it was real. 

The minute you walked into your house with Bucky, you busted out laughing. “Hey what did we serve at our wedding, because I wanted chicken.” 

He cracked a smile, and shook his head, “At least they stopped asking us questions!” Bucky watched you as you started to clean the counters and get ready for dinner, and he figured he should get started on laundry. “Do you have any dirty clothes?” You stopped in your tracks, realizing that your whole wardrobe was in the washing machine and none of it was dry. Quickly you ran upstairs and changed into some clothes from Bucky’s room, and came back down to see Bucky patiently waiting for your clothes to throw in. You were surprised about how fast he had picked up on modern technology, but your best guess was from him having to use the new weapons with all the stark tech out there. After he was done starting laundry, he sat down at the dining table and started chatting about little things that he remembered during the day.


	6. a change

Three months had gone by since Bucky Barnes showed up on your doorstep, and it was no surprise that you guys were beginning to resemble two peas in a pod. The summer had ended and the chilly fall days finally began, which was your ideal weather since you missed wearing all of your sweatshirts. You and Bucky made a point to go out every once in awhile to start getting clothes for winter, and once a week for food for the house. Going through the grocery store with that goofball meant buying a lot of unnecessary stuff, and as many Twisted Teas that your liver could handle that week. 

It was an adventure every day with him, you taught him tricks on how to grow a garden and raise a dog, and in exchange he taught you a new move to bring down a 200 pound man. You also had your own fun, which was buying a kiddy pool for your dog Ruckus before the colder days set in. Then spraying Bucky with the hose to the point he got mad enough to tackle the hose away from you. Every once in awhile the two of you would have to go down to the hardware store to get parts for his arm, which was hilarious seeing Bucky and Gregory talking about whatever Bucky needed the part for this time. Road Trips to random hiking trails, and taking pictures of Bucky all frustrated and sweaty when he had to lift trees off the path ahead. Getting pictures of Bucky was a struggle considering most of the time he would try and hide his face away with a dark brimmed hat. The man loved taking pictures of you though, whether it was at the top of the mountain or while you were dancing away in the kitchen while he made dinner. 

But with those beautiful memories, also came the nightmares. You knew that taking him in, only meant handling a damaged man. Bucky never snapped on you, if he felt a flashback coming he would go outside and take a walk down one of the few trails he had cleared in the dense forest surrounding your house. Sometimes you were afraid that he wouldn’t come back because of how bad he was shaking when he left, but he came back every time. In the nights, you’d wake up to screams that made his voice hoarse the next day. Sometimes he wouldn’t find a wink of sleep, which led you to find him sitting on the porch downstairs, staring at the stars. 

“I knew you would be the only one to understand what really happened to me,” He had tears in his eyes that night, “From the little pieces I could remember, I tracked you down.” For the most part, he was right. Your husband luckily never tortured you the way he did to Bucky, but you knew damn well what that evil man was capable of. He would occasionally come home and mention that there were new assets to be “worked on” and you knew the following weeks he would be coming home with bruised knuckles and sweat stained suits. There was never an opportunity for you to leave, or even offer a divorce. Something about him made you feel that if you had ever brought even the idea up, he would go ballistic. 

It was no surprise when you woke up in the middle of the night and Bucky was standing in your doorway, looking like he was lost in his own skin. Without a word, you lifted up the comforter next to you and patted the spot, awaiting his reaction. He shuffled forward with a huge amount of uncertainty in his steps, but still he sat on the edge of the bed. Next, he swung his bare feet up and found his spot under the covers and staring up at the ceiling. Neither of you spoke, the loud silence was enough for the two of you to find peaceful sleep. 

Every night following that, he hasn’t found much sleep in his old room, which only meant it became the spare room again. After about a month of him sharing your room, his arms would be wrapped around you as you woke each morning. Even some mornings you were wrapped around his large torso. It felt like home, having his warm body behind your own. Sure, the metal arm was a little cold at first but you loved how confident he was becoming in his own skin. You’d never felt more safe than when you were in his arms, and somehow this made him capable of moving on in his steps to full recovery. 

Now that it was winter, and the snow was heavy everywhere you went, it was seldom that the two of you ventured out into town together. Bucky had grabbed a shit load of money from hydra before he had ran, so he bought a little used car from gregory after he had been living with you for 5 months. He put a lot of money into a safe in the basement, for emergency purposes. Both of you had made bank accounts with the small bank in town, just to be able to have some kind of attachment to the town. 

While he was in town one afternoon, you were trying to figure out what the two of you were going to marathon watch when he got back. He really enjoyed Parks and Rec considering he reminded himself of Ron Swanson; quiet, sarcastic, and loved whiskey. Bucky’s car pulled into the driveway, a tiny bit faster than his usual slow moving speeds. You got up from your spot on the couch and met him at the doorway. Snow was blowing all around as the door swung open, and Bucky came in and tapped his shoes off on the mat. You gave him a questioning look, but he just gave one right back. 

“Why’d you pull in so fast?” You asked, with a ribbon of concern in your voice. 

He laughed, and placed a small, reassuring kiss on your cheek, “No big deal, just saw a weird lady that looked out of place in town.” It was bizarre how he was acting. Even if there was a small change like you putting new sheets on the bed, he had to sit and think about it for a half hour. Now he saw some woman in town that could be a threat, and he was just wondering what was for dinner? It took everything in you just to settle and get back on the couch for the evening. 

With the thought of the strange woman in the back of your mind, you continued your evening with Bucky.


End file.
